True Davis Source: St. Joseph Newspress, Mar 01 2003

True Davis, 83, St. Joseph, Mo., died Wednesday, Feb. 26,2003, at his home. Born Dec. 23, 1919, in St. Joseph, he had resided in St. Joseph until 1963. His first job was as a bandleader with a Midwestern jazz orchestra named "The Ambassadors." Mr. Davis attended Cornell University before starting his business career as a salesman with Anchor Serum Co. in St. Joseph. During World War II, he served as chief test pilot at the Naval Air Station at Pearl Harbor. He attained the rank of lieutenant senior grade before being honorably discharged in 1945. On Jan. 24,1948, he married the former Virginia Motter. She preceded him in death in 1969, while the family was on a safari in East Africa. Resuming his career following World War II, he became president of Anchor Serum Co. in 1950, and through company internal growth and mergers, made it one of the largest animal pharmaceutical companies in the country. Merging these companies with an affiliate of the Dutch multi-national company, Philips Electronics, he became president of Philips Roxane Inc. and vice-president of Philips Electronics and Pharmaceutical Corp. in 1959. In October 1963, President John Kennedy appointed Mr. Davis ambassador to Switzerland. He held that post until appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to be assistant secretary of the treasury in September 1965. Mr. Davis also was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson as the U.S. executive director of the Inter-American Development Bank in September 1966. He was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate for all three positions and resigned from all governmental activities in 1968 to return to private life. Mr. Davis served as president and chairman of the board of directors of the National Bank of Washington from 1970 until 1973. Thereafter, he worked as an international financial consultant. Throughout his career, he served as chairman of the board, president and/or director of 28 corporations throughout the United States. Additionally, he served on the board of four industry associations, 30 civic organizations and on the governing boards of four colleges and universities. Mr. Davis served as chairman of the Department of Commerce Export Expansion Council for the Kansas City region and as a member of the nuclear energy committee of the National Association of Manufacturers. He also served as a director of the Missouri State Chamber of Commerce, a national associate of the Boys Clubs of America, police commissioner of St. Joseph and a director of the National Rifle Association. He was a former chairman of Veterans of Foreign Wars Americanism Committee and was the author of the V.F.W. book, "Americanism vs. Communism." He served as a member of the Civilian Advisory Committee on Naval Affairs from 1958 until 1960; Cornell University Council; trustee of Fleming College; trustee for the Institute of Foreign Affairs, Florence, Italy; trustee of Missouri Valley College; trustee of the College of Mount St. Vincent; member of Phi Gamma Delta and was one of the early members of the Young President's Organization. In 1960, he received the Veterans of Foreign Wars by the Junior Chamber of Commerce. In 1963, he received a doctor of humane letters from Tarkio College, Tarkio, Mo. In 1979, he received an honorary doctor of laws from Missouri Western State College. He was a life member of the New York Academy of Sciences and a former member of the board of governors of the American Royal and Agriculture Hall of Fame. In 1967, he was awarded the National Veterans of Foreign Wars Americanism Gold Medal and was made an honorary fellow of the Consular Law Society. That same year, he served as a guest lecturer at the All-American Conference to Combat Communism. In 1968, he was the recipient of the United States Treasury Exceptional Service Award. Mr. Davis was an honorary life member of the American Society for Friendship with Switzerland Inc.; Reserve Officers' Association (Coast Guard); and Washington, D. C. Humane Society. He was a member of the board of trustees of the Meridian House International Foundation from 1969 until 1976. While in government, he was a member and adviser to a number of international delegations, including the United States delegation to American chiefs of state summit meeting, Punta del Este, Uruguay. Mr. Davis was a lifelong democrat and was active in local, state, and national politics. He was national treasurer of the Stuart Symington presidential campaign in 1960 and was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate from his home state of Missouri in 1968. He later served as treasurer of the Democratic National Committee. He was appointed chairman of the Diplomatic Committee for the 1976 National Democratic Convention at which 134 foreign ambassadors and missions attended as observers. Mr. Davis had an active interest in hunting, horse racing and thoroughbred breeding. Among his favorite trophies was the Alaskan Polar Bar, which stood nearly 11 feet tall and was near him when he passed away. At one time, he owned and raced over 30 thoroughbred horses at tracks across the country. His first stable was located at St. Joseph at the site of Boehringer-Ingelheim, a company whose roots trace back to Mr. Davis' original pharmaceutical company. This stable along with 20 thoroughbreds were destroyed by fire one evening in the 1950's. His interest in horses made him friends with the top breeders in the country. Mr. Davis was one of the founders of the Association of National Defense Executive Reserve (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and served as treasurer from 1982 until 1986, and then as board member emeritus. Mr. Davis returned to St. Joseph in 2001. At the time of his death, he was an active member of the Metropolitan Club in Washington, D.C. and Royal Tasmanian Yacht Club in Tasmania. He was a former member and past president of the Benton Club in St. Joseph. While alive, he lived! Mr. Davis was preceded in death by his parents, William True and Helen Marstella Davis Sr.; a brother, Dexter Davis; and a sister, Daphne Muchnic-Oppenheimer. Survivors: three sons, William True Davis III, Bruce M. Davis and Lance B. Davie; a sister, Jacqueline Andrews; two grandchildren, Virginia M. Davis and William Truett Davis; and several nieces and nephews. A private graveside service and inurnment will be held Tuesday at Mount Mora Cemetery in St. Joseph. The family will receive friends from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Benton Club, 402 N. Seventh St., St. Joseph. A memorial celebration will be held in Washington, D.C., at a later date. The service is under the direction of Meierhoffer Family Funeral Service of St. Joseph. The family suggests memorial gifts to the St. Joseph Museum.

True Davis was Ambassador to Switzerland in 1963. A well-known hunter, Mr. Davis and wife Virginia, while on safari in Uganda, were both bitten by a tetse fly. Virgina died of sleeping sickness, while True languished for two months and then recovered. His sporting interests also included big game hunting and one of his prize trophies was an eleven foot polar bear from an expedition to Alaska.